They say Stephens is a ‘low risk'

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Say this for
John Stephens: He has one loyal, loving family. As his freedom hangs in the balance, his mother, wife and son told Judge
Erick Larsh on Thursday that he would have a strong support system should the judge decide he no longer poses an unreasonable risk of danger to society. A UCLA psychologist later agreed he presented a “low risk.”

Stephens, as I wrote Wednesday, is eligible to have his 25-years-to-life sentence in Folsom reduced to time served under a change California voters made to the “three strikes” law last year because his third strike was not violent – meth possession. His other strikes, from the early 1990s, are violent ones, as prosecutor
Larry Yellin showed during Tuesday's session.

This type of resentencing is becoming routine; I would not be paying attention to it but for the fact that Stephens was once charged with the 1993 killing of Garden Grove police Officer
Howard Dallies. The charges were dropped, largely because of police misconduct, and the slaying remains the only unsolved one of a peace officer in O.C. history. Those who still believe Stephens is good for it are watching the hearing closely.

Larsh is not considering any bad acts for which Stephens has not been convicted, so the allegations surrounding Dallies' shooting death during a traffic stop are not mentioned in court.

Defense attorney Andrew Nechaev on Thursday focused on two areas that argue for Stephens' release: his family and a psychologist's report. Stephens' mom testified that if released, her son would live with her in Bakersfield. He could take classes at a nearby college, attend 12-step meetings and work in the oil fields, where there is a family connection.

“Bakersfield is out of Orange County, and I think that is a plus,” she said. “None of us want him to live in Orange County.”

That's because, according to Stephens' wife, her husband was doing fine in Arkansas, where the couple lived from 1999 to 2003. They had a son Stephens helped care for, and Stephens held a job and stopped using meth. It was only when he returned to O.C. alone in about 2003 – to work with his father in a better-paying job – that he reconnected with an old drug buddy and started using again.

“He was a great husband … an amazing father,” his wife testified. She would move from O.C. to Bakersfield to be near him and so he could be with his son, she told Larsh, although she said she wouldn't “jump back into a relationship” with him until more time had passed. Nonetheless, she said, “I love him and I plan on being with him the rest of my life.”

Then came the couple's 16-year-old son. He looks like a clean-cut kid. He plays sports and has a 2.6 GPA at an O.C. high school. He talks to his father on the phone at least three times a week. “He's been a good dad,” he said. “We always talk. I share my problems with him and he gives me good answers. … He's my best friend.”

Larsh asked him how he dealt with his father's violent past. “I know my dad,” the boy replied. “He's a good person. He did some stupid stuff in the past. He's changed. … I feel like when he gets out, it will be like it was in Arkansas.”

I'm not jaded enough not to feel the kid's pain. It's impressive that Stephens' family stuck by him, especially his wife. He has been in prison about 16 years of their 19-year marriage. If she thinks he's still a bum, she's got no motivation to stay and every reason to leave and protect her son.

The UCLA psychologist,
Nancy Kaser-Boyd, who interviewed Stephens for seven hours and reviewed his records, was also impressed with his family ties. Two recidivism models rate him as a “low risk” to return to his violent ways. This is based in part, she said, on his family structure and his behavior during his last few years in prison – which includes learning to read.

While he admitted to having racist feelings in the past – Folsom believes he is a member of a white-supremacist gang – he told Kaser-Boyd he had matured and changed. One reason: The man who taught him to read in prison was black.

Kaser-Boyd said her evaluation is based on Stephens remaining meth-free. If Stephens uses again, she conceded, he would be at high risk to act impulsively – the character flaw that fueled his violent acts in the early 1990s.

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